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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27959540">An Intimacy From Which They Never Recovered</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/duchessofthemoonbase/pseuds/duchessofthemoonbase'>duchessofthemoonbase</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>The Leto and Jessica Chronicles [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Dune - All Media Types, Dune Series - Frank Herbert</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Canon Compliant, Courtship, Deleted Scenes, F/M, First Kiss</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-11 01:01:12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,093</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27959540</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/duchessofthemoonbase/pseuds/duchessofthemoonbase</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>The smiles kept creeping in at the corners of her lips, those longing sighs phasing in and out of her dreams—and her Duke was all to blame.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Leto Atreides I/Jessica (Dune)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>The Leto and Jessica Chronicles [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2042986</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>17</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>An Intimacy From Which They Never Recovered</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>"They slipped briskly into an intimacy from which they never recovered."<br/>-F. Scott Fitzgerald, This Side of Paradise.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1">Jessica was slipping.</p><p class="p1"><em>You can never let your face betray a single emotion,</em> the Reverend Mother had once lectured. <em>You must maintain the upper hand in every interaction you partake in. It is absolutely vital to our purposes that you—</em></p><p class="p1">But it had been so hard to keep up these past few weeks. The smiles kept creeping in at the corners of her lips, those longing sighs phasing in and out of her dreams—and her Duke was all to blame.</p><p class="p1">The man had been wooing her like a fool. He brought her flowers from his gardens and bought her expensive gifts. He had copied out his favorite poems by hand and slipped them under her pillow. Jessica had been bold enough to ask him about his motives yesterday as they took their morning walk in the gardens.</p><p class="p1">“Many men would think you silly to put so much effort into wooing a woman who you already possess,” she had commented, and the Duke had chuckled and shook his head.</p><p class="p1">“I do not wish to possess you,” he said. “No matter what titles or money or that damned school of yours has to say about it. I only want you to become really and truly fond of me…” he looked bashfully at the ground. “Because I am very fond of <em>you</em>, Jessica.”</p><p class="p1">He turned to her and placed a hand on her cheek. “You’re blushing,” he observed. “I thought the Bene Gesserit were against such blatant reveals of emotion.”</p><p class="p1">Jessica did nothing to will back the heat spreading across her face, not when she saw how much it had charmed Leto. “I seem to be developing a habit of forgetting my training in your presence, my Lord Duke.”</p><p class="p1">He beamed at her, holding back a branch out of her path as they walked further into the gardens. He could not quite contain this new surge of happiness.</p><p class="p1">That was a confession of tender feelings from a Bene Gesserit if there ever was one.</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p3">***</p><p class="p4"> </p><p class="p1">There was such an abundance of <em>time.</em></p><p class="p1">There had never been time on Wallach IX. Every minute of her life had been meticulously scheduled. Not a minute was wasted that could have been used in service to the Bene Gesserit. Not a second was hers to mold into shape; hers to hold onto.</p><p class="p1">But her days on Castle Caladan seemed to stretch on forever. She awoke at dawn in her small bedroom (and read whatever verses Leto had slipped under her pillow) and then met the Duke for their shared breakfast and walk around the gardens. He was occupied with official business for most of the mornings and afternoons: long meetings with government officials and the dull drudgery of completing correspondence and paperwork.</p><p class="p1">This was Jessica’s time to explore. She tried new things. Gurney Halleck taught her how to hold a sword and defend herself in combat, as well as a few simple tunes on the baliset. She took up painting, taking her supplies out into the woods and trying to capture the intricate patterns of the mushrooms and ferns that decorated the forest floor. And of course there was the library—the Duke’s endless collection of poetry, some of it even stretching back to Terran times. There had never been the luxury of such things before. She had read poetry, of course, but she had never <em>savored </em>it, had never read the lines over and over until the rhythm of them became a part of her.</p><p class="p1">As much as she enjoyed these long days of leisure, she always counted down the hours until the evening. Until she could see Leto again.</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p3">***</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">Dinner was always a charming affair.</p><p class="p1">Jessica didn’t know why. She didn’t know why the food always tasted so exquisite, why she hung onto the Duke’s every word like the last gaspings of a prayer—but she did. She felt warmth flow through her in a way that she suspected was more than just the wine.</p><p class="p1">Today Leto was nervous. He was masking it well, but he must have known she could tell. She gave him a long stare, one that demanded <em>oh, out with it already!</em></p><p class="p1">“I’d like to ask you something,” he said abruptly, putting down his silverware. “It’s been a few weeks; time enough for you to better assess your situation here, and I was wondering if…well, I was wondering if you wanted to stay.”</p><p class="p1">Jessica just stared at him. “Stay, my lord?”</p><p class="p1">“Yes,” he said. “Here, with me, at Castle Caladan.”</p><p class="p1">She looked at him completely puzzled, as if he were speaking some long-dead language. “What a silly thing to say. You know I am obligated to be here.”</p><p class="p1">“I know,” the Duke said. “But if you really wished it, Gurney could take you somewhere else. We could figure something out.”</p><p class="p1">Jessica shook her head and smiled. “It’s too late for that,” she whispered, staring up at him with warmth in her eyes. “I’ve grown far too fond of you to ever leave.”</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p3">***</p><p class="p4"> </p><p class="p1">Leto had little to do the next day, so at breakfast he suggested that they venture into the nearby forest together for the first time. There was something noticeably different when they set out that morning, something newly acknowledged stirring in the air between them.</p><p class="p1">They were sure of each other’s affections now, and there was nowhere else to go but forward.</p><p class="p1">Jessica could tell how deeply Leto loved these woods as they wandered into the trees. He knew them like they were a part of himself, and she supposed they were. The Atreides had ruled Caladan for centuries, after all, and he came from a long line of men who must have walked and loved these forests just as he did.</p><p class="p1">“There is such peace here,” Jessica observed, her Duke watching her with wonder. “But not the silent peace of meditation. It’s a living sort of peace, one that constantly moves. It reminds one that they are not so alone in the world.”</p><p class="p1">Leto smiled and took her hand, gently helping her navigate a pile of sharp rocks. “I feel I’ve been trying my whole life to put that into words,” he said.</p><p class="p1">They took a break near a shallow creek, one that bubbled merrily with tiny fish and pebbles gleaming beneath the surface.</p><p class="p1">“This will be a wonderful place to take our daughter one day,” Jessica said, and the moment the words left her mouth she saw her Duke react, his face twisted into a puzzled expression.</p><p class="p1">“Daughter?”</p><p class="p1">“Yes,” Jessica said. “The Bene Gesserit ordered me to bear you only daughters. Didn’t you know that?”</p><p class="p1">“No,” Leto said, silently moving a pile of pebbles between his hands. There was a profound look of disappointment on his face, and Jessica could tell he was trying his hardest to mask it even from her.</p><p class="p1"><em>He wants a son,</em> Jessica realized. <em>He wants a little boy to raise into the next Duke of Caladan. And I cannot give him one.</em></p><p class="p1">Pregnancy was a strange thing for the Bene Gesserit. They could use their <em>prana-bindu</em> conditioning to take certain controls over their reproductive processes. She could shift her menstrual cycle forwards or back to avoid a pregnancy or conceive a child, and when a child was conceived, she had complete control over its sex. The breeding program of the Bene Gesserit had an intricate framework; one that had been perfected for nearly a millennia. One incorrect move from one sister, and the work of generations could be compromised.</p><p class="p1">“You’re right,” Leto said, giving her a kind smile. “It would be a wonderful place for a little girl to play.”</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p3">
  <em>***</em>
</p><p class="p4"> </p><p class="p1">Two nights later they sat in the castle’s drawing room, the roaring fire crackling softly in the distance. Leto had collected his favorite poetry books for them to look at as they sat on the sofa. He was leafing through them and reading Jessica his very favorites.</p><p class="p1">He read old songs from far away planets, as well as the foreign-sounding words of their earthly ancestors, Shakespeare and Homer and Keats. Jessica found it charming that he still owned paper books when so many of their contemporaries had forsaken them—it was very like him, a man so steeped in nobility and tradition.</p><p class="p1">But after a while she had stopped listening. She was only staring up at her Duke, trying to memorize every handsome line of his face as he read to her. The words of these poets, the mad drunkenness of their ancient hearts…it no longer seemed so far away to her.</p><p class="p1">Jessica was absolutely besotted with him.</p><p class="p1">She moved her hand to his cheek, stopping him in the middle of a verse.</p><p class="p1">“Leto,” she whispered affectionately. “I don’t want you to hold back any longer.” She leaned her whole body against him and watched his eyes go dark.</p><p class="p1">“Dearest,” he sighed in reply, his breath catching as Jessica ran a needy hand down his chest. “We must discuss this, first.”</p><p class="p1">Jessica sat back, disappointed. She could feel herself being pulled towards him like a magnet.</p><p class="p1">“I worry,” Leto said, taking her hand. “You were alone for so long without any sort of affection, any touch, I—I don’t want you latching onto me simply just because I am the first person to show you any sort of love. It doesn’t feel quite fair.”</p><p class="p1">Hearing her circumstances put so plainly shocked Jessica to the core. “Can it not be both?” she asked. “You are the first, yes, but also, you are so…so…<em>Leto,”</em> she sighed, his name like a caress. “I adore you so much. I want you completely. I’ve been aching for—”</p><p class="p1">He brushed a strand of copper hair behind her ear. “Have you ever had someone kiss you, Jessica?”</p><p class="p1">“No,” she replied, her heart racing as he stared at her lips.</p><p class="p1">“Someday soon,” the Duke whispered in her ear. “I’ll show you.”</p><p class="p1">“How soon?” Jessica sighed. “I don’t think I can wait any longer.”</p><p class="p1">“Let’s be prudent,” Leto said, stroking a finger down her cheek. “Tomorrow then. At the earliest.”</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p3">***</p><p class="p4"> </p><p class="p1">Jessica returned to her small bedroom, her heart fluttering as she changed into her nightgown. It was already half past eleven, but she wasn’t tired in the least. She picked up a poetry book from her bedside table, rereading the poems that the Duke had read her this evening. She shivered just to think of it. The way he’d gazed at her lips, the longing in his eyes…</p><p class="p1">There was a knock at the door.</p><p class="p1">“Come in,” she said.</p><p class="p1">It was Leto.</p><p class="p1">She stood up to greet him. “What are you doing here?” she asked, smiling as he walked over to wrap his arms around her.</p><p class="p1">He looked towards the clock in the corner. “It’s just struck midnight,” he whispered in her ear with a grin. “It’s <em>tomorrow</em>.”</p><p class="p1">“Tomorrow?” she smiled knowingly. “Is it really?”</p><p class="p1">Her Duke held her face in tender hands, relishing the beauty of the woman in front of him. “Yes,” he said, tilting her face up to meet him. “It is.”</p><p class="p1">Jessica leaned in first, pressing her mouth against Leto’s with a desperate need she hadn’t known she was capable of. He opened up to her, groaning as she slid her hands into his hair. Their lips caressed each other, tender and urgent, Jessica smiling at the feeling of his beard scratching lightly against her cheek.</p><p class="p1">They pulled away to catch their breath; staring at each other flushed and giddy.</p><p class="p1">“I’ll see you in the morning,” Leto said, a devilish twinkle in his eye.</p><p class="p1">After he left Jessica paced around the room, desperate for another kiss, another word, <em>anything</em> from her darling Leto. That kiss had been wonderful, it had been ecstatic, she had never felt anything so exquisite in all her life!</p><p class="p1">She collapsed onto her bed, sighing happily. She wrapped herself in her blankets, inundated with the potent memory of his lips moving against hers.</p><p class="p1"><em>Damn the Bene Gesserit!</em> Jessica thought with a grin. <em>Damn them!</em></p><p class="p1">Such things they’d kept from her—love and beauty and pleasure…and for what? For nothing but their own selfish purposes. They had demanded so much of her and given her nothing in return but their gift of manipulating others. And what was that when there was love? What was that empty haughtiness when there was <em>Leto!?</em></p><p class="p1">She sighed into a happy sleep, pleased with the traitorous thoughts that were already running through her head like wildfire. <em>Damn those Bene Gesserit!</em> <em>Damn them!</em></p><p class="p1">There are some kisses, after all, that were made to turn the tides of history.</p><p>
  
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